Barclays research reveals time poor Brits are turning to domestic help

New research from Barclays reveals that almost one in ten households currently employ at least one person and more than a quarter of households (27 per cent) have or are considering employing staff to help out with domestic work or chores. Of those who employ staff a massive 82 per cent employ cleaners, followed by 30 per cent gardeners, 17 per cent nannies and 16 per cent to do the ironing. Time pressures are the main cause of the boom in domestic staff ­– 70 per cent claim that they do not have the time to do the duties themselves whilst 36 per cent prefer to spend their time doing other things. Overall a third state that they dislike doing chores.

Unsurprisingly, wealthier households are more likely to employ staff; almost one in six (17 per cent) of those earning more than £50,000 currently have at least one domestic helper and a further 25 per cent of this sector are considering hiring help or have done so previously.

The majority of those who do not employ domestic staff (49 per cent) cite affordability as the main reason. But the Barclays research also indicates that many other British households obviously have a penchant for housework as a similarly high number (41 per cent) claim that they prefer to do chores themselves. Despite this, a cleaner would still be the first choice for domestic help (52 per cent) followed by someone to do the ironing (11 per cent) or a personal trainer (10 per cent).

Jane Parry, director of marketing, Barclays Premier Banking, said: “Long gone are the ‘upstairs downstairs’ days of domestic staff which were the preserve of the nobility. In the 21st century we are all trying to cram as much into our lives as possible and will think nothing of taking on the help we need to do this. Employing someone to help with the house, the garden or the kids is viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury. Prioritising our time by letting someone else handle our finances, training regime or shopping is fundamental to our hectic modern lifestyles.”

Barclays Premier Banking. offers customers exclusive and personalised financial services, which can be accessed however, whenever and wherever they choose.

About Barclays
Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services. We are one of the largest financial services companies in the world by market capitalisation. Operating in over 50 countries and employing 123,000 people, we move, lend, invest and protect money for over 27 million customers and clients worldwide. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays PLC has six major businesses.

UK Banking delivers banking products and services to over 14 million retail customers and 780,000 businesses in the UK.

Barclaycard is one of the leading credit card businesses in Europe, and has 9.8 million UK customers and 6.4 million international cards in issue.

Barclays International Retail and Commercial Banking operations have over 2 million international clients, in geographies which currently include France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, India, Africa and the Middle East. Absa has an additional 8.3 million retail customers in South Africa.

Barclays PR contact:
Andrew McDougall
Retail Banking PR Manager
Barclays
1 Churchill Place
London
E14 5HP
+44 (0)20 7116 6159
http://www.barclays.co.uk/